Stranding-machine.



G. E. BIGELOW.

STRANDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATIION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

Patented Nov. 12,1912.

Q m R ammo mm o- H WW INVENTOH George E- Bigelow- WITNESSES G. E.BIGELOW.

STRANDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907'.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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WITNESS INVENTOR George E-i9e1ow G. E.1BIGELOW. STRANDING MAGHINEY.APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

Patented Nov. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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INVENTOH G. E. BIGELOW.

' STEANDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

Batented Nov. 12, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

, ||l b l I I P IHHI H I H I I IH INVENTOH Geore Eigelonuz WITNESSES omvGEORGE BIGELOW, 0F WATERBURYgCONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE MATTATUGKMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A GORPOEATIQN 0Fcomvncrrcu'r.

, SllNDING-HACHIN E.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

mama Nov. re, isle.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BIGELOW, a citizen of the United States,residing at l faterbury, in thecounty of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements instranding- Machines, of which the following is a specification.

sembling links and plates to form strands such as are used inmaking bedfabrics. The

use of the strands formed in my machine is however immaterial and theshape and proportion of the plates and links may be varied withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention. Heretofore the links andplates for formin such fabrics have been assembled by han whichis slowand expensive.

It is the main object of my present invention to assemble links andplates into strands which may afterward be connected by hand, orautomatically to produce the completed fabric. I have also sought toperfect the details of the mechanism so that all parts work togetherautomatically.

Briefly considered the invention contemplates supplying links and platesto an assembling device, drawing the links. through and thus picking upthe plates and interlocking them with the links, and then clos ing thelinks down on the plates. By the term links Ii intend to refer generallyto a member having'an open hook at each end. Such links are usuallyformed of wire in suitable wire working machines. By the term plate lrefer generally to a relatively tlatmember having recesses orperiorations in opposite corners. These are usually stamped'square fromstrips of sheet metal and have four holes, one in each corner, althoughthey are sometimes triangular in outline and supplied with only threeholes. The machine illustrated has the as sembling mechanism induplicate for convenience and economy in construction and operation.-

Figure 1 is a longitudinal side view of a machine embodying myinvention, parts being broken away in order to better illustrate theprinciples. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the plane of line X-XFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view and partial section of the machine. Fig. 4is' a side view showing the relative positions of the links and squareplates in the machine, at the end of a cycle.- Fig.- 5 is a plan view ofa fragment of a strand composed of links and plates. Fig. 6 is a- 1detail view "ofa triangular plate with three My invention relates tomachines for as holes. Fig. 7 is a side view of the assembling deviceproper. Fig. 8 is a front elevation ofthe same taken from the left ofFig. 7 Fig. 9 is a view of the link chute on the plane of the line a-a.Fig. 10 is a section of the strand channel on the plane of the line bb.Fig. 11 is a plan View and section on the plane of the line cc. Fig. 12is a vertical section at the assembling point showing a link in positionto engage a plate. Fig. 13

is a similar View showingthe same plate, a little'later in the samecycle of the machine turned over. and in position to engage the nextlink. Fig. 14 is a plan view of a single tension device. Fig. 15 is alongitudinal side view and partial section of the same. Fig. 16 is atransverse sectional view of the same on line yy of Fig. 15. Fig. -17 isa fragmentary plan view showing details of the tension device.

A suitable frame 1, carries all parts of the mechanism. lhe links aresupplied on guides 2, 2 and fed by a rod 3 and intermediate mechanisminto chutes 4i, i. The plates are supplied in tubes 5, 5 and fed by aplunger 6 to the assembling point in the front of the chutes i, l. Afterassembling, the strands are drawn over the bed 7 and beneath a hammer 8by tension devices 9, 9'. All the moving parts are driven from the mainshaft 10 as will be understood hereinafter. One revolution of the shaftcompletes a single cycle of operations or stroke of the machine. Eachcycle adds one plate and one link to each strand. in the particular formshown eachlink 11 is made of wire with a straight shank and hooks 12 and13 at the ends. Each plate 14 has front and-rear holes 15 and 16 andside holes 1?, 17. The- S ll receive (it column of the links 11, 11,laid sidewise and has vertical coves 18, 18, in which the hooks slide. Te guide 2, has a projection 19, removably fitting in a cone spondinglvshaped recess in the support 20, so that the guide is supported a ovethe platform 21, with space enough between to allow for thereciprocation of the tip 22 of the feed lunger 23. A pivoted lever 24,connects tlie plunger with the slide 25. The opposite plunger 23 issimilarly connected by lever 24' and reciprocation of the plungers iseffected by the reciprocation of slide 25. The in 26 on slide 25 coacts.with the inclined slbt 27, in the end of rod 3, so that when rod 3 isreciprocated by the action of eccentric 28, strap 29, and arm 30, theslide 25, is reciprocated. Each rotation of the main shaft 10, thuscauses, through the medium of the mechanism. just described, av

feed of one link from the bottom of the guides 2 and 2 alternately intothe chutes 4 and 4 respectively. The mouth of each chute is funnelshaped (Fig. 2.) and being shorter than the length of a link (Fig. 3.)causes the link to turn edgewise and t1p up and fall down the chuteendwise (Fig. 4.). The chutes are thus kept supplied with links. Theguides may be strung with links in any suitable manner and loaded guidessubstituted for the empty guides as often as isnecessary. PlatesuppZy.The tubes 5', 5 are filled with. the stamped flat plates ,14, 14which are thus arranged in columns above the path of movement of thefeed lunger 6 on the tables 31, 31. The feed p unger is reciprocated,each revolution of the main shaft 10, by means of the eccentric 28,strap 29, arm 32, and lever 33 and a plate 14'is fed from the bottom ofeach tube to the front of the link chutes (see Sheet 3) so that onecorner of a plate projects beyond the edge of the table and into thepath of movement of the upper hook 12 of a link (see Fi 12). To permitthis, a recess 34, in the front of the link chute is provided, whichintersects the link channel 35. AssembZing.-At the end of a stroke ofthe machine the links and plates are in the relative positions of Fig.4. As the strand is pulled along, the rear hook 12 of a link enters thefront hole of the projecting plate, tilts the plate up and pulls 1t downover the curved end 36, of the table (Fig. 12). The next link in thechute follows; after by .gravity and is thrown forward by the curvedsurface 37, into the pocket 38, where it momentarily stops. ,At the samemoment the front end of the plate 14 catches slightly against theshoulder 39, and the tension on the strand throws the rear end of theplate down to engage the front hook 13 of the link following. Themovement of the stroke .behad to the plates and links when 1,oes,eee

slightly to the left of the position shown in .Fig. 13. The plates ofthe interlocked strand travel in the horizontal groove 40' while thebooks of the links are guided in the groove 41 and the shanks of thelinks in the groove 42, the spring 43 servin to hold the partsyieldingly in position. gide movement of the plates durlng theassembling operation is prevented by the guards 44 and 45. The;latter ismovable, being clamped by screws 46, 46, so that access may nallystarting the machine.

H 0010 closing-AS the two strands travel along the bed 7, the shanks ofthe links in the grooves 42 and 42, a hammer 8, raised and lowered byrod 47 in the usual manner of stamps on presses, descends and strikes,

at each stroke the two hooks-attached to a plate and closes them as at48, 48 (Fig. 4 Strand tens-i0n.-The completed stran s pass underfriction shoes such as 49 (see heet 4). Each shoe is pressed down 'onthe strand plates by springs such as 50, adjustable by nuts 51, 51. Eachtension slide 9 is operated by a lever 52 and arm 53 from shaft 10 in amanner similar to the plate feed heretofore described. The slot 54permits adjustment of the bolt 55 for changing the stroke of the tensiondevice, while the slot 56 permits the relative swinging and slidinmovements of lever 52. and slide 9 respectively. The rear end of slide 9carries two pins 57, 57, which are pressed upward by a spring 58 andadapted to snap into the side holes 17, 17 of a late so as to pull thestrand along. The sli e is shown in full in Fig. 15 and dotted in Fi 1at the left hand end of its stroke. starts back toward the right, theincline or bevel of the pins 57, 57, causes them to be disengaged andallows them tosnap under the following plate and-thence up into itsholes for the next tension stroke. To prevent any possible backwardmovement of the strands I provide stop pins 59, 59 pressed down byspring 60 and beveled toward the rear so as" to permit forward movementof the plates 14, 14 but prevent backward movement. For convenience inconstruction, adjustment and repair the friction shoes and stop pins arecarried by the covers 61, 61 which are bolted or otherwise suitablysecured to the frame. The part 62 of the bedwhich lies beneath a shoe 49is also preferably made separate so that the parts may be readilymanufactured and repaired.

. In the mechanism shown, two strands are formed simultaneously and fedout through the grooves 42 and 42 (see Fig. 3). The

feeding of the links from the guides 2 and 2 is effected by alternatingthe movement of the slides 23 and 23' respectively and the feeding ofthe plates is efiected by the plunger 6 reciprocating beneath the supplytubes 5 and 5. This arrangement requires a fewer number of parts and ismore compact and less expensive to operate than two separate machines.As two strands are being formed side by side they can be readilyconnected by cross links as they come out from the delivery end of themachine either by hand work or by separate mechanism so as to form afabric.

The operation and advantages will be understood from the foregoingspecification and the drawings. I do not however considerthe inventionlimited to the combination or to the details set forth except asspecified in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1.. In a stranding machine the combination of link and plate supplies,means for interlocking the plates and links, means for closing the linkhooks, and means for applying'tension to the strand.

2. In a stranding machine the combination of link and plate supplies,means for automatically assembling the plates and links, and means forapplying tension to the strand.

3. In a stranding machine, a chute, a table, means for supplying linksto the chute, and means for supplying plates to the table in front ofthe chute and in the path of movement of the links.

4. In a stranding machine, a link supply chute, means for feeding platesin front of the chute in the path of movement of the links, and meansfor applying tension to the strands. i

5. In a stranding machine, a chute, means for supplying links thereto, atable in front of said chute for receiving plates in the path ofmovement of said links, and means for applying tension to interlock thelinks and plates,

6. In a stranding machine, the combination of two chutes, means forsupplying links thereto, means for supplying plates'in the paths ofmovement of links through said chutes, and means for moving said linksand plates after interlocking.

7. In a stranding machine, the combinationof alternately operable linksupplies, simultaneously operable plate supplies, tension devices, andmeans for interlocking the plates and links when the tension devicesoperate.

8. In a strandin machine, a grooved link guide, a chute, an means forfeeding links from said guide to said chute endwise.

9. In a stranding machine, a pair of link guides, a pair of chutes, andmeans for linp may turn sidewise and fall endwise down said chute.

12. In a stranding machine, a pair of link guides, a pair of feedplungers, a pair of chutes, and means for operating said plungers tofeed links alternately first into one chute and then into the other.

13. In a stranding machine, a link chute and means for feedlng a squareperforated plate with a. corner forward and in the path of a link forinterlocking.

14. In a stranding machine, a link guide, a plate holder, plungers forfeeding links and plates from said guide and holder, a main shaft, aneccentric carried thereby, a strap on said eccentric, and connectionfrom said eccentric strap to said plungers.

15. In a stranding machine, a link chute having an opening in one side,aplate-supporting table adjacent thereto, and means for pulling linkspast the edge of said table to interlock with lates thereon.

16.- In a stranding machine, a chute having a link channel and a recessintersecting the same, a table adjacent thereto for supporting a platewith one corner extending into said recess, and means for guiding saidplate as it turns over in said recess.

17. In a stranding machine, a chute having a link channel, a tablehaving a curved end adjacent thereto, and means for pulling a linkthrough said channel so as to interlock with a plate on the edge of thetable, turn the plate over the end of the table and cause it tointerlock with the following link.

18. In a stranding machine, a link chute having a sto pocket atthebottom, means for interlocking a plate with a link above said pocket,and means for turning said plate over to engage the succeeding link whenstationary in said pocket.

19. Ina stranding machine, a link chute, means for hooking a link into aplate and turning the'plate over, said chute having a curved portion tothrow the succeeding link forward beneath the plate as it turns over.

20. In a stranding machine, a link chute having a stop pocket, 9. tablehaving a curved end, and means for pulling links from said chute andinterlocking-with plates supplied on said table.

21. In a stranding machine, a link chute, and a table having a plateguiding groove beneath with vertical extensions to accombeneath withvertical extension to accommodate the links and a shoulder in the lowergroove to throw the rear of a plate down.

23. In a stranding machine, a table having strand channels beneath andmeans for pulling links so as to interlock with plates supplied on theend of said table.

24. In a stranding machine, a table having strand channels beneath andmeans for pulling links so as to interlock with plates supplied on theend of said table, and yielding means for holding the strand in saidchannel.

25. In a stranding machine, means for pulling a strand so as to causethe end hook to engage a plate, and means for causing the plate to turnover and engage the front hook of a new link.

26. In a stranding machine, means for pulling a strand so as to causethe end hook to engage a plate, means for causing the plate to turn overand engage the front hook of a new link, and means for holding the newlink stationary while being so engag'ed.

27 In a stranding machine, a main shaft, means controlled by therotation thereof for pulling a strand so as to cause the end hook toengage a plate, means for turning the plate over as it is pulled alongwith the strand, so as to engage a new link, and means for supplyinganother plate in the path of movement of the rear end of said new linkduring the same rotation of said shaft.

28. In a stranding machine, a link chute, a plate table adjacent to butspaced apart therefrom, leaving a plate passage. and

guard plates on the sides of said passage.

29. In a stranding machine, a link chute, a plate table adjacent to butspaced apart therefrom, leaving a plate passage and ard plates on thesides of said passage, one of said plates being movable.

30. In a stranding machine, means for assembling plates and links, agrooved bed, means for closing the hooks of the links while the shanksare guided in the groove of the bed, and a tension device for thestrand.

31. In a stranding machine, means for assembling plates and links, meansfor yieldingly engaging the links after they are intel-locked with theplates, and means for applying tension to the strand.

32. In a stranding machine, the combination of means for assemblingplates and links, and a tension device including a pair of upwardlyprojectin pins for engaging in the side holes of the p ates.

33. In a stranding machine, the combination of means for assemblingplates and links, and a tension device including a pair of upwardlyprojecting pins for engaging in the side holes of the plates, and a pairof downwardly projecting pins for preventing backward movement of theplates.

34. In a stranding machine, plate and link supplies, and a tensiondevice for intermittently drawing the formed strand so as to add linksand plates.

35. In a stranding machine, plate and link supplies, and a tensiondevice for intermittently drawing the formed strand so as to add linksand plates, said tension device including a friction shoe and ayieldingly mounted means for engaging the plates.

36. In a stranding machine, the combination of plate and link assemblingmeans, a grooved bed with a pressure shoe, and pins for engaging in theside holes of the plates.

37. In a stranding machine, the combination of plate and link assemblingmeans, a grooved bed with'a pressure shoe, and pins for engaging in "theside holes of the plates, and means for preventing the plates backwardmovement.

38. In a stranding machine, plate and link assembling means, a bed, aspring-pressed shoe for the plates, and a spring-pressed pin forengaging in a side hole or recess in a plate.

39. In a stranding machine, plate and link assembling means, a bed, aspring-pressed shoe for the plates, and a spring-pressed pin forengaging in a side hole or recess in a plate, and spring-pressed meansfor preventing backward movement of the strand.

40. In a stranding machine, the combination with assembling means, of anadjustable spring-pressed friction shoe, a tension pin, a spring-pressedback-stop pin, and a removable cover carrying said pins.

41. In a stranding machine, the combination of assembling means with atension device including a bed, a cover, a pressure shoe carriedthereby, and means for adjusting either or both ends thereof.

42. In a stranding machine, means for guiding plates and links,including a grooved bed, means for closing the hooks of the links whilethe shanks are guided in the groove of the bed, and a tension device forthe strand.

43. In a stranding machine, means for yieldingly engagimg the linksafter they are interlocked with the plates and means for applyingtension to the strand.

44. In a stranding macnine, a tension device including a pair ofupwardly pro ecting pins for engaging in the side holes of the plates.

45. In a stranding machine, a tension device including a pair ofupwardly projecting pins for engaging in the side holes of the plates,and a pair of downwardly projecting pins for preventing backward move-.ment of the plates.

strand, said tension device including a friction shoe, and a yieldinglymounted means for engaging the plates.

47. In a stranding machine, a grooved bed with a pressure shoe and pinsfor engaging in the side holes of the plates.

48. In a stranding machine, a grooved bed with a pressure shoe and pinsfor engaging in the side holes of the plates, and means for preventingthe plates backward movement.

49. In a stranding machine, a bed, a spring-pressed shoe for the plates,and a spring-pressed pin for engaging in a side hole or recess in aplate.

50. In a' stranding machine, a bed, a spring-pressed shoe for theplates, and a spring-pressed pin for engaging in a side hole or recessin a plate, and spring-pressed means for preventlng backward movement ofthe strand.

51, In a stranding machine, an adjustable spring-pressed friction shoe,a tension pin, a spring pressed back-sto pin, and a removable covercarrying sai plns.

52. In a stranding machine, a tension device including a bed, a cover, apressure shoe carried thereby, and means for adjusting either or bothends thereof.

53. Ina strandin machine, a link supply, meansfor moving ooked linkstherefrom, a plate suppl means for causing a perforated plate t erefromto engage the hook of one link, and means for turning over the plate toengage a hook on an adjacent link.

54. In a'stranding machine, a link supply guide for hooked links, and asupply guide for perforated plates, said guides having intersectinpaths, means for feeding hooked links and perforated plates in theirrespective guides so that the hooks'of the links engage the perforationsin the plates.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE E. BIGELOW.

